PhoneArena breaks down the numbers in detail, revealing that charging from flat to full with the bundled charger takes the iPhone XS a whopping 3 hours 5 minutes, while the iPhone XS Max takes 3 hours 29 minutes - almost half a working day.

“This is borderline criminal compared to most Androids whose fast chargers come in the box and don't require you shell out $68 extra for the privilege,” concludes PhoneArena reviewer Daniel Petrov.

He is right. Apple prices its USB-C fast charger at $49 and the required USB-C one metre cable costs $19. Moreover, even with its fast charger Tom’s Guide has shown charging speeds still lag behind cheaper rivals from OnePlus and LG.

“With most Android phones, I can plug in my phone, take a shower and know that I have enough battery to get me several more hours of battery life,” says CNBC’s Todd Haselton. “With the iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max, unless I use a bigger charger like the one included with the iPad, I don't get that same experience.”

iPhone XS and XS Max charge times are not competitive with Android rivals out the boxPhoneArena

Defending its decision, Apple told Haselton that lots of customers “actually prefer the tiny charger to larger ones, since it's so compact and can be carried anywhere” which is about as bad as excuses get.

Furthermore, while Apple spent some time promoting the faster wireless charging in its new iPhones, this also isn’t without problems.

For starters, it is slower than most premium Android rivals since its Qi-compatible charging doesn’t use even half of the standard’s 18W specification and, secondly, regular wireless charging has been shown to wear out batteries. Coincidentally, last week Apple confirmed it will charge more to replace batteries in the iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max.

I am an experienced freelance technology journalist. I have written for Wired, The Next Web, TrustedReviews, The Guardian and the BBC in addition to Forbes. I began in b2b print journalism covering tech companies at the height of the dot com boom and switched to covering con...